The present invention relates to a razor, in particular a discardable razor or a razor having a discardable head, in which the blade(s) is/are protected, on being obtained by the user, by means of a protective cap or housing.
On purchasing a razor, the user cannot be sure that it has not already been used or that the blade has not been spoilt in one way or another. This uncertainty is particularly troublesome with a discardable razor or a razor having a discardable head, since by definition, the lifetime thereof is rather short, being about 5 to 7 uses, on average. Most discardable razors are indeed provided with a protective cap which engages on the head of the razor to protect the cutting blade(s). However, the presence of the protective cap is not sufficient to provide the user with a genuine guarantee since said cap is easily removed, and is designed to be put back into place on the razor head after each use. The same applies to discardable heads which are inserted in protective housings, insofar as it is possible to put a discardable head back into its housing after it has been used.
Naturally, one solution consists in selling the razor or the discardable head in appropriate packaging that must be destroyed in order to take hold of the razor or the head. However, under such circumstances, in order to be completely effective, it is necessary to have one package per razor or per head. When a plurality of razors or heads are sold in the same package, once the package has been opened, the user is again in a position of being unable to tell whether one or more of the razors (or heads) has been used, and this problem can arise whenever razors (or heads) are made available to a plurality of people.
Proposals have already been in document WO 97/19612 for a solution which consists in providing temporary fixing means that are fixed both to the protective cap and to the head of the razor, said means being constituted in particular by a strip of adhesive that needs to be removed manually or to be broken in order to be able to withdraw the protective cap from the razor so as to use it.
That solution requires additional means to be implemented, thereby complicating manufacture of the razor, and it also requires a special operation on behalf of the user and to which the user is unaccustomed.
The object of the Applicant is to propose a different solution to that problem which does not require packaging to be used and which mitigates the drawbacks of the solution proposed in document WO 97/19612.
This object is achieved in full by the razor of the invention which, in conventional manner, has a head fitted with a protective member in which it engages in removable manner to protect the cutting blade(s) before use, and possibly also after use, and which includes a part suitable for being broken on the first occasion the protective cap is removed.
In characteristic manner, the part in question is a tongue which is fixed either to the head or to the protective member and which bears respectively either on a portion of the protective member or on a portion of the head so as to be broken during first separation of the protective member and the head.
Thus, the tongue is an integral portion of one of the elements (head or protective member) and it is the usual action of separating these two elements which causes the tongue to be broken.
The noise caused by breaking the tongue constitutes an audible indication, thereby informing the user that the protective member which was put into place during assembly of the razor had not been previously been withdrawn, and thus that the use thereof which the user is about to undertake is indeed a first use.
When the invention is applied to a discardable razor or to a discardable-head razor, having a protective cap that engages in removable manner on the head of the razor to protect the cutting blade(s) before use and after use, in a first variant, the tongue is fixed on the razor head and engages with the portion of the protective cap while it is being removed. When the user removes the protective cap, it is necessary to exert a certain amount of traction on the razor in order to disengage the protective cap from the razor head. During relative displacement between the cap and the head, a portion of the cap engages the tongue and, in accordance with the invention, breaks it.
In a preferred embodiment, the inside face of the protective cap has a shoulder with an internal rectilinear surface which is substantially parallel to the plane of the tongue while the cap is in place on the razor head, and with an outside surface that is convex. In this embodiment, it is the internal rectilinear surface which engages the tongue and which imparts thereto the force required to break it while the cap is being removed. In contrast, the convex surface enables the cap to be put into place on the razor head in spite of the tongue being present; because of the convex shape, there is progressive mechanical action on the tongue which causes it to flex without breaking.
Preferably, the outer convex surface and the inner rectilinear surface constitute the longitudinal edge of the protective cap.
In order to avoid spoiling the appearance of the razor head, the tongue is preferably on the bottom face of the razor head.
When relating more specifically to a discardable razor constituted by elements made by molding or injecting a plastics material, the part suitable for being broken on first removal of the protective cap forms an integral portion of one of said elements of the head.
In another variant embodiment of the invention, the part that acts to provide an audible indication of first use is a tongue that is fixed to the inside face of the protective cap and that engages a portion of the razor head during removal of said cap.
Furthermore, it may be necessary to have not one but a plurality of tongues suitable for being broken during first removal of the protective cap, said tongues being offset from one another in the travel direction of the protective cap relative to the razor head while said cap is being removed, in such a manner as to give rise to a succession of breaking noises.
When relating to a razor system having discardable heads, optionally provided with protective caps, each discardable head in the system is inserted in a protective housing in which said head is engaged in removable manner, and in characteristic manner said system includes at least one tongue suitable for being broken on first removal of each head from its housing, under the same conditions as specified above.